Environmental Impact Assessment

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a systematic, well

documented and multidisciplinary procedure, where we identify, describe
and assess the direct and indirect effects of a project or an activity on
different environmental factors such as soil, water, air, climate, landscape,
cultural heritage, flora, fauna, human beings; and also interactions among
the factors. EIA helps to develop environmental friendly projects and
seeks to reduce environmental degradation caused by developmental
activities. EIA is a pre decision tool with many different purposes useful for
different actors - planners, designers, project proponents, public and
decision makers. It also provides a plan to reduce the negative
environmental effects of development project through alternative
approaches, design modifications and remedial measures. In preparing EIA,
main two tasks are involved - one is to manage huge and diverse nature of
database (spatial, non-spatial, discrete, continuous and temporal); and other
is to make final interpretation based on these data, which by most of the
conventional methods is very subjective.

Highway construction or expansion projects are major activities of economic

development especially in developing countries. Road development is major
source of damage to the environment, including ecological destabilization,
habitat disturbance and damage to flora and fauna.

Steps involved in EIA:

1. Project definition.
2. Screening.
3. Scoping.
4. Baseline information.
5. Impact prediction.
6. Evaluation of impact & alternative criteria.
7. Management plan.
8. Public participation.
9. Decision making.
10.Monitoring plan.
EIA methodologies:-

1. Ad hoc approach: - This method provides minimal guidance for total

impact assessment while suggesting the broad areas of possible impacts.
2. Checklist method: - It is a method of combining a list of potential
impact areas that need to be considered in the environmental impact
assessment process with an assessment of the individual impacts.
3. Matrix method: - It incorporates a list of project activities or actions with
a checklist of environmental conditions or characteristics that might be
affected.
4. Overlay method: - In this method a set of maps of a project area
environmental characteristics are overlaid to produce a composite
characteristic of the areas environment.
5. Network method: - It starts with a list of project activities and then
generates cause-condition-effect networks.

Environmental impact assessment

On
Highway construction
(In general)

1. Description of the project (In general): - The expressway

components of the Project generally become the part of national highway. It
generally connects the local roads which becomes the important part of
national highway network which contribute immensely to the national
economy.

Description of the project generally shows the project area, duration for
completing the highway construction with a design speed.
2. Physical settings: -

A. Geology, Topography and Soils: - the project generally mentions

about the project area, type of soil such as brown soil or mellow soil.
Sometimes it also mentions about the condition of the soil, type of
vegetation exists.
B. Climate: - The EIA also mentions about the type of climate (semi arid
or arid or other four seasons), average annual rainfall and temperature.
C. Others: - Usually it also mentions about the air quality, soil erosion,
water quality and noise.

3. Biological environment: - It contains information about the condition

of farmland, livestock and rare and endangered species.

4. Social and economic environment: - It contains information about

the cultural and natural resources and also about the economic condition (ex-
agricultural or industrial development).

5. Anticipated environmental impact and mitigation measures: -

A. Physical settings:
1. Soil erosion: - The soil erosion problem will be aggravated by
construction activities, particularly cut-and-fill operations exposing
extensive bare soil surface. if construction takes place in the plain area with
cut or fill operation soil erosion will be higher than in the baseline area.
Borrow and spoil sites are also potentially large sources of soil erosion.
Controlling measures: -
(i) After road construction is completed, grade silt basins and revegetate or
return them to farm use.
(ii) Install silt dikes and runoff ditches around borrow pits to confine silt to
the pits.
(iii) Construct settling basins at bridge construction sites to collect sediments
generated by pile driving operations.
(iv) Keep the areas of excavation, borrow, grading, and embankment
operations commensurate with capability and progress in accomplishing
erosion control measures. Minimize soil exposure of disturbed areas and
regrade excavated areas and revegetate or return them to farm use without
delay.
(v) Implement slope stabilization, embankment drainage system, and project
landscaping simultaneously with road construction.

2. Water quality: - Expressway runoff with pollutants from vehicle

emissions. Rainwater washes out atmospheric pollutants, picks up roadway
deposits, and runs off into rivers.
During construction, measures should be taken to prevent increased
sedimentation from polluting waters, especially at bridge construction sites.
Special attention will be given to hazardous materials (fuel, oil, caustic and
acidic substances, etc.) and wastewater to prevent them from draining into
streams and drainage areas, and polluting surface waters or groundwater.
All construction wastes, petroleum products, and other potentially hazardous
materials should not be dumped directly into water bodies. They should be
removed to a disposal site authorized to accept such materials and treated
properly.
3. Hazardous materials spills: - With the rise in traffic flow, the potential for
hazardous materials incidents also increases. To prepare for possible
accidents, it is essential to have a sound hazardous materials emergency
program incorporating preparedness and response measures. Any Project
should include establishing an emergency group, developing a contingency
plan, and a training program. Transporters of hazardous materials would be
required to have three certificates: driver’s license, hazardous materials
transport permit, and safety certificate.

4. Air quality: - The emission impacts of volatile organic compounds and

other hydrocarbons (VOCs/HCs) can be significant, depending on vehicle
type, age, weight, and emission control technology.
Air Quality Impacts During Construction: - Construction activities
particularly earthworks; increased traffic; and the use of cement, asphalt, and
other building materials will produce excessive airborne dust or asphalt toxic
fume, with a major impact on air quality within the project area.
5. Noise and vibration impact: - The potential traffic noise impact should be
evaluated in mathematical models using traffic volume, vehicle type, road
conditions, and other factors. Noise levels in daytime and at night should
also be calculated.
Controlling measures: -
(i) Relocate households in close proximity to a site 50 m away from the
road.
(ii) Erect noise barriers.
(iii) Build earth dikes on top of cut slope.
(iv) Create a greenbelt of standard wide between the road and the
village/town or the school.

B.Socio economic impact: -

Community cohesion: Where highways are created through existing

communities, there can be reduced community cohesion and more difficult
local access. Consequently property values have decreased in many cutoff
neighborhoods, leading to decreased housing quality over time.

Roadway noise: Highways generate more roadway noise than arterial streets
due to the higher operating speeds. Therefore, considerable noise health
effects are expected from highway systems. Noise mitigation strategies exist
to reduce sound levels at nearby sensitive receptors. The idea that highway
design could be influenced by acoustical engineering considerations first
arose about 1973.

Air quality issues: Highways may contribute fewer emissions than arterials
carrying the same vehicle volumes. This is because high, constant-speed
operation creates an emissions reduction compared to vehicular flows with
stops and starts. However, concentrations of air pollutants near highways
may be higher due to increased traffic volumes. Therefore, the risk of
exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants from a highway may be
considerable, and further magnified when highways have traffic congestion.

More roads lead to more traffic congestion. Sometimes referred to as the

'induced-demand' effect, more roads add on to car-dependence. This means
that by building a new road, there is only short-term mitigation of traffic
congestion. In the long-term, even more cars will take over the excess road
space - which exacerbates the problem. A memorable analogy about
highway building is "like an obese person loosening their belt as a cure for
obesity".

HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes are being added to some

newer/reconstructed highways in North America and other countries around
the world to encourage carpooling and mass-transit. These lanes help reduce
the number of cars on the highway and thus reduces pollution and traffic
congestion by promoting the use of carpooling in order to be able to use
these lanes. However, they tend to require dedicated lanes on a highway
which makes them difficult to construct in dense urban areas, where they are
the most effective. New highways can also cause habitat fragmentation,
encourage urban sprawl and allow human intrusion into previously
untouched areas. Public transport can also lose users, so that means more
pollution.

Institutional arrangements and environmental monitoring

program

To ensure proper implementation of the environmental mitigation measures,

a surveillance plan and an environmental monitoring program should be
established for both the construction and operation periods. The monitoring
program will focus on noise impact, air quality, and water quality within the
project area. Additional monitoring or spot checks may be done as
necessary. Local certified environmental monitoring stations should be
contracted for monitoring work in accordance with all applicable national
and local environmental regulations and standards.

Public involvement

Whenever we make EIA we should make field survey, keeping following

objectives in mind: -
(i) Inform the public and local government and relevant agencies about the
need for the project and the proposed alignment.
(ii) Identify and consider values and concerns of the public and agencies;
(iii) Inform the public and agencies regarding potential impacts associated
with the Project and the mitigation measures considered; and
(iv) Integrate public input and agency policy into the decision-making
process.

Recent study

A study of 3600 children living near busy highways in southern California

shows that auto emissions can stunt a child's lung development and increase
the risk of early respiratory problems.  VOA's Melinda Smith has details
about the research and what the findings hold for their future health.

Southern California has some of the worst

traffic and air pollution in the United States. 
That can be annoying for motorists stuck in
their air-conditioned cars.  But Professor W.
James Gauderman says it can be hazardous for
children who live and play close to the
highway.

"If you live both near a freeway and in an area

of high air pollution, our results suggest that
you're getting, in a sense, a doubling of the effect -- both the regional
pollution levels that the children are breathing as well as the air that they are
breathing, that is coming out of the tail pipe."

Conclusion
The main roads in India are under huge pressure and in great need of
modernization in order to handle the increased requirements of the Indian
economy. Besides just fixing and paving the roads, widening &
straightening of roads and expanding the network is becoming increasingly
necessary. This is because the roads can then handle increased traffic, both
in terms of goods and public movement together with an increase in the
speed of movement.

In general, due to decades of bureaucratic procedural difficulties, the road

network has suffered long delays. The political leaders in India have now
started examining the situation and taking action. However, there are still
other environmental, logistical, and local issues contributing to delay in
development of the road infrastructure. For instance, although the
government itself owns a wide corridor around the center of roads called the
Right of Way (ROW), over many years, poor and landless people have built
houses and other property along the roadside. Farmers whose fields adjoined
the road had their crops encroach up to the side of the road. Further, other
resources are located along roadsides, whether they be trees, pathways to
water resources, streams that were used for their water, etc.